Up Against the Wall

Last month, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued its response to a March 2009 petition from a group of fuel ethanol promoters and producers to allow bringing to market gasoline containing up to 15% ethanol by volume (E15). The response came in the form of a carefully worded waiver and promptly drew howls of complaints from both proponents and opponents of more ethanol blending. The clatter of discontent from both aisles surrounding this issue left some people wondering what exactly was gained by the EPA’s expenditure of time and taxpayer money to arrive at the decision. Download here